Computer System for Generating Keyboardless Data Entry Interfaces on Remote User Devices

ABSTRACT

A computer system for interaction with user devices presenting a keyboardless data entry interface and third party data systems is configured to provide data for display on a user device of a selectable input graphical user interface, the graphical user interface including a series of user selectable inputs not requiring user keyboard-type information entry. The system is configured to obtain data from a user device and from third party computer systems. The system is further configured to determine an insurance quotation based on inputs via the graphical user interface not requiring user keyboard-type information entry and the data from one or more of the user device and third party computer systems.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/450,700 entitled Computer System For InteractionWith User Devices Presenting A Keyboardless Data Entry Interface AndThird Party Data Systems, filed on Aug. 4, 2014, which application is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/479,523 entitledSystem And Method For Rendering Dynamic Insurance Quote Interface, filedon May 24, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,799,125, the entire contents ofeach of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The purchase of a new home or automobile necessitates acquiring a newhome or automobile insurance policy, or is likely to result in a changeof rates under an existing policy. Dissatisfaction with one's currentinsurer may also result in a consumer shopping around for better pricingand/or services provided by another insurer. The process of obtaining aninsurance quote for automobile or home insurance is generally a severalstep endeavor. Generally, a consumer has to decide between a number ofdifferent insurance providers and then initiate the quotation processthat may include communicating with an insurance agent of the selectedprovider or logging onto an insurance provider's website. Generally, theagent and/or web site will then solicit a number of pieces ofinformation from the individual consumer to help finalize a quotation.For example, for automobile insurance, information such as the driverslicense number, make and model of vehicle, mileage, approximate annualuse of the vehicle, how many household drivers and ages, general drivinghistory, VIN number for vehicle to be insured, a list of the vehicle'ssafety and anti-theft devices, policy numbers of existing polices topotentially qualify for multi-policy discounts, address of individual,etc. may be needed to formulate an insurance quotation.

Providing this information for the quote inevitably requires some manualinformation entry by the agent on behalf of the consumer or by theconsumer directly such as via their personal computer when interfacingwith an online quoting engine. Such manual information entry is morecumbersome with today's generation of smartphones and tablet computingdevices that typically do not have physical keyboards and thus requiremanipulation of virtual softkeys or other methods that are more errorprone. Generally, the longer the quotation process takes, the morechance the potential customer will simply abandon the quote or seekother alternatives.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system that could provideinstant and accurate automobile insurance quotes without requiring anytime-consuming manual entry through an easy to use, intuitive userinterface. It would also be further desirable to have an automatedquoting system that could intelligently utilize third party data,geo-location data and social networking data to expedite the quotationprocess.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, the present invention is a system for administeringdynamic insurance quotations, the system comprising one or moreprocessors; a memory coupled to the one or more processors; and one ormore programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memoryand configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one ormore programs including instructions for: displaying an insurance quoteapplication graphical user interface, detecting one or more userselectable inputs in the application interface, wherein the userselectable inputs include a plurality of option selections, eachrespective option selection representative of insurance quotationspecific information pertaining to the user, and in response todetecting user selections, initiating one or more user device and/orthird party information requests; and outputting an insurance quotationbased on the information conveyed via the option selection icons withoutrequiring additional manual keyboard based input on behalf of the user,wherein the quotation is also at least based in part on information fromthe user device and/or the third party.

In other embodiments, the present invention is a computer system forcalculating real time insurance quotations without requiring keyboarddata entry, comprising a processor; and a memory storage device incommunication with the processor; the processor configured to:interrogate a user device for identifying information; transmit theidentifying information via a communications network to an insuranceoperated web server; display a graphical user interface to solicit inputfrom the applicant, wherein the graphical user interface requires nokeyboard-type information entry from the applicant; receive informationvia the communications network from the applicant's input via thegraphical user interface; and determine, based on the receivedinformation if additional information is required to provide theinsurance quotation, and if additional information is needed, formulateand transmit a third party information request; and determine a bindinginsurance quotation for the applicant based on the device information,applicant input and third party information.

In additional embodiments, the invention is a computer-implementedmethod for administering insurance quotations via a selectable inputbased graphical user interface, comprising receiving, via acommunications interface, device and/or third party driving data relatedto the user, storing, via a data storage device, the third party drivingdata related to the user, providing the selectable input graphical userinterface, the interface including a series of user selectable inputs,each input related to the device and/or third party driving data relatedto the user, receiving, via the communications interface, user selectedinputs from the selectable input graphical user interface, storing, viaa data storage device the received user selected inputs, determining,via the computer processor, insurance quotation information for the userbased on the user selected inputs and the third party driving data andoutputting an electronic insurance confirmation to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description,given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary computer architecture that may be used forinsurance quote administration and management;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary system that may be used for the management ofinsurance quotations;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary system screen of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary system device in operation;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary method of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows another exemplary method of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows another exemplary device of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 shows another exemplary method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are processor-executable methods, computing systems,and related technologies for the management, tracking and communicationof insurance quotations using a simplified and improved graphical userinterface. The graphical user interface of the present inventionutilizes selectable inputs such as dynamic checkboxes and radio buttonsto convey user/applicant information to an insurance entity for thepurpose of the providing the user/applicant with a real-time bindablequotation for auto, home or other insurance. The system alsoautomatically leverages user device information as well as third partyand social network information to augment the user provided informationfor the quotation in a manner transparent to the user. The system uses atiered algorithm to expedite the quoting process by selectively andintelligently accessing information to augment the user providedselectable input information so that a minimal amount of user input isrequired. Utilizing embodiments of the present invention, an applicantcan obtain an insurance quotation without having to manually type in orkey any type of identifying, historical or descriptive information andthus the applicant benefits from the enhanced user experience and theinsurance entity benefits by retaining a higher percentage of potentialcustomers that would otherwise be lost with conventional quotingprocesses.

FIG. 1 shows an example architecture 100 that may be used for themanagement, tracking and processing of dynamic insurance quotationsusing an improved graphical user interface. The example architecture 100may include an insurance data management system 110, a web system 120, aclient device 130, one or more third party data sources 150 and aproduct management system 160. In the example architecture 100 of FIG.1, the insurance data management system 110 and the product managementsystem 160 may be under the control of an insurance/financial servicescompany and their associated agents/brokers as applicable. In otherembodiments, insurance data management system 110 may be integrated withproduct management system 160.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the insurance data management system 110 mayinclude a communications interface module 112, an insurance quotecalculation module 114, and an insurance information database 116. Theinsurance quote calculation module 114 may include one or more softwaremodules or objects and one or more specific-purpose processor elementsto perform the calculations and processing required by the presentinvention. In some embodiments, the insurance quote calculation module114 may also include one or more business rules and one or morepredictive models. The business rules may provide guidelines on how torate and quote entities based on certain types of information. Otherbusiness rules may be implemented in accordance with the presentinvention.

In operation with respect to an automobile insurance quoting process,the insurance quote calculation module 114 may receive client data suchas drivers license number, make and model of vehicle, mileage,approximate annual use of the vehicle, how many household drivers andages, general driving history, VIN number for vehicle to be insured, alist of the vehicle's safety and anti-theft devices, policy numbers ofexisting polices, the address of individual, etc. provided through theselectable input interface on client device 130. Insurance quotecalculation module 114 may also receive or access certain third partydata, such as motor vehicle department data, social network information,as well as other third party sources of information via third partyserver 150 and third party database 152.

Insurance quote calculation module 114 is configured to output one ormore quotations for one or more insurance/financial services productssuch as home or automobile insurance for review and approval by theuser. The recommendations may take into account the user's selectableinputs provided, device data, social network data, third party datarelated to the user, geo-location data as well as the characteristics ofthe financial service/insurance product such as the fees associated withthe product, the term and rate of each product and other relatedfactors.

The insurance information database 116 may store information such asrating and underwriting information and tables, the user providedselectable input, device data, social network information, and thirdparty data information related to the user/applicant. Insuranceinformation database 116 may be spread across one or morecomputer-readable storage media, and may be or include one or morerelational databases, hierarchical databases, object-oriented databases,one or more flat files, one or more spreadsheets, and/or one or morestructured files. Insurance information database 116 may be managed byone or more database management systems (not depicted), which may bebased on a technology such as Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, OracleRelational Database Management System (RDBMS), PostgreSQL, a NoSQLdatabase technology, and/or any other appropriate technology.

Communication between the insurance data management system 110 and theother elements in the example architecture 100 of FIG. 1 may beperformed via the communications interface 112 in the insurance datamanagement system 110. The insurance data management system 110 may alsoaccess third party systems 150 and third party data 152 which mayinclude motor vehicle department data, driving history, social networkhistory and activity and other sources of information which may impactthe insurance determinations herein. For example, insurance datamanagement system 110 may interface with computer systems associatedwith one or more third party sites to receive data related to a user ofclient device 130 such as the applicant's driving habits, risk profiles,and interests. For example, third party sites may include e-commercesites, civic networking sites, automobile sites, social networkingsites, municipal and governmental sites, and other variety of sitesaccessible via networks such as the Internet. Information from suchsites, including social network information, may include data relatingto one or more of an applicant's driving habits, risk profile anddriving history. Date received from such sites may be used to classifyapplicants as high, medium or low risks and price the quotationappropriately based on the determined classification. Data received fromsuch sites may also be used on a state specific basis to help determinethe appropriate amount of coverage and limits. For example, a Departmentof Insurance database on a per state basis may be accessed to determinethe appropriate amounts for bodily injury liability limits and propertydamage liability limits for the user's respective state.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the product management system 160 may performfunctionality such as storing and processing information related tocertain insurance products. For example, the product management system160 may include information on certain types of insurance products suchas the product characteristics, benefits, features, deductibles, limits,etc. The product management system 160 may store this information in aproduct management database 162. The product management database 162 mayalso be spread across one or more computer-readable storage media, andmay be or include one or more relational databases, hierarchicaldatabases, object-oriented databases, one or more flat files, one ormore spreadsheets, and/or one or more structured files. As will bedescribed in further detail below, the insurance data management system110 may use information from the product management database 162 toselect and sell potential products which may be suitable for one or moreapplicants based on their information and needs.

Referring still to FIG. 1, web site system 120 may provide a web sitethat may be accessed directly by a consumer operated user client device130. User client device 130 can include, but is not limited to cellulartelephones, other wireless communication devices, personal digitalassistants, pagers, laptop computers, tablet computers, smartphones, orcombinations thereof. In embodiments of the present invention, userclient device 130 may communicate with the web site system 120 that maybe operated by or under the control of a financial services/insuranceentity or other third party administrative entity such as a TPA typeentity. The web site system 120 may, in response to an initial requestfrom consumer client device 130, interrogate the consumer client devicefor identifying information. In response to the interrogation, theconsumer client device may be configured to provide identifyinginformation, such as identifying information stored in local storagedevices, such as device type, serial number, machine number,evercookies, flash cookies, session beans, or session IDs, or may beconfigured to generate a screen display to prompt a user to inputidentifying data such as user ID and password, name, address, existinginsurance policy or account data, or other identifying data, whichidentifying information is then transmitted by consumer client device130 to web site system 120. The web site system 120 may generate one ormore web pages for access by consumer client device 130, and may receiveresponsive information from the consumer client device 130 such as userselectable information for obtaining an insurance quotation. The website system 120 may then communicate this information to the insurancedata management system 110 for processing via communications interface112. The web site system 120 may also communicate one or more web pagesto the consumer client device 130 that provide one or more productoptions that may be suitable for the consumer from product managementsystem 160.

In operation, client device 130 may be used to provide information viathe selectable inputs and also approve and/or select one or more of theinsurance product options in accordance with the needs of the consumeroperating client device 130. Selection via client device 130 may beaccomplished via a touch-sensitive touch screen that provides an inputinterface and an output interface between the client device 130 and theclient or user. In operation, the client device 130 displays certainvisual output or indicia to the user for manipulation by the user. Thevisual output may include checkboxes, radio buttons, graphics, text,icons, video, and any combination thereof. The touch screen may displayone or more graphics within user interface displayed on client device130. In this embodiment, as well as others, a user may select one ormore of the graphical elements by making contact or touching thegraphics, for example, with one or more fingers or stylus implements. Insome embodiments, selection of one or more checkboxes, radio buttons orother graphical indicia occurs when the user establishes and breaksphysical screen contact with the one or more graphical elements. In someembodiments, the contact may include a certain gesture, such as one ormore finger or stylus taps, one or more swipes such as from left toright, right to left, upward and/or downward and/or a rolling of afinger or stylus such as from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward that has made contact with the device 130. For example,the user may be provided a series of user selectable input screens thatthe user may tap to make selections and then swipe to more to additionalor nested screens that require additional user selections.

The graphics displayed on client device 130 do not require manualkeyboard based input, or keyboard-type information entry, whether via ahardware keyboard or via virtual softkeys. In an embodiment, the inputinterface may not accept keyboard-type information entry from a user. Insome embodiments, the input interface may be configured to acceptkeyboard-type information entry as an alternative to non-keyboard baseddata input, such as via selection of graphical elements not displayed asa keyboard. Keyboard based data input includes data input via a hardwarekeyboard, including mechanical keys displaying alphanumeric symbolsarranged generally in a two-dimensional array, and data input via avirtual keyboard on a touch sensitive display, displaying virtual keyshaving alphanumeric symbols arranged generally in a two-dimensionalarray. Non-limiting examples of arrangements of two-dimensional arraysinclude the QWERTY keyboard, the Dvorak keyboard, and the telephonekeypad arrangements.

The web site system 120 may include a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)application server module 124 and an insurance/financial web applicationmodule 122. The HTTP server module 124 may implement the HTTP protocol,and may communicate HyperText Markup Language (HTML) pages and relateddata from the web site to/from the consumer client device 130 usingHTTP. The HTTP server module 124 may be, for example, a Sun-ONE WebServer, an Apache HTTP server, a Microsoft Internet Information Services(IIS) server, and/or may be based on any other appropriate HTTP servertechnology. The web site system 120 may also include one or moreadditional components or modules (not depicted), such as one or moreswitches, load balancers, firewall devices, routers, and devices thathandle power backup and data redundancy. The insurance/financial webapplication module 122 may generate the web pages that make up the website and that are communicated by the HTTP server module 124. Theinsurance/financial web application module 122 may be implemented inand/or based on a technology such as Active Server Pages (ASP), PHP:Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Python/Zope, Ruby, any server-sidescripting language, and/or any other appropriate technology.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the consumer client device 130 may include aweb browser module 134, which may communicate data related to the website to/from the HTTP server module 124 and the insurance/financial webapplication module 122 in the web site system 120. The web browsermodule 134 may include and/or communicate with one or more sub-modulesthat perform functionality such as rendering HTML (including but notlimited to HTML5), rendering raster and/or vector graphics, executingJavaScript, and/or rendering multimedia content. Alternatively oradditionally, the web browser module 134 may implement Rich InternetApplication (RIA) and/or multimedia technologies such as Adobe Flash,Microsoft Silverlight, and/or other technologies. The web browser module134 may implement RIA and/or multimedia technologies using one or webbrowser plug-in modules (such as, for example, an Adobe Flash orMicrosoft Silverlight plugin), and/or using one or more sub-moduleswithin the web browser module 134 itself. The web browser module 134 maydisplay data on one or more displays that are included in or connectedto the consumer client device 130, such as a liquid crystal display(LCD) display, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, touch screenor monitor. The consumer client device 130 may receive input from theuser of the consumer client device 130 from input devices that areincluded in or connected to the consumer client device 130, such a mouseor other pointing device, or a touch screen, and provide data thatindicates the input to the web browser module 134.

The example architecture 100 of FIG. 1 may also include one or morewired and/or wireless networks (not depicted), via which communicationsbetween the elements 110, 120, 130, 140, 150 and 160 in the examplearchitecture 100 may take place. The networks may be private or publicnetworks, and/or may include the Internet. In one example deploymentscenario, the insurance data management system 110, web site system 120,and product management system 160 may communicate via one or moreprivate networks that are under the control of the financialservices/insurance company, while the consumer client device 130 maycommunicate with the web site system 120 via the Internet.

Each or any combination of the modules 112, 114, 122, 124, and 134 shownin FIG. 1 may be implemented as one or more software modules or objects,one or more specific-purpose processor elements, or as combinationsthereof. Suitable software modules include, by way of example, anexecutable program, a function, a method call, a procedure, a routine orsub-routine, one or more processor-executable instructions, an object,or a data structure. In addition or as an alternative to the features ofthese modules described above with reference to FIG. 1, these modules112, 114, 122, 124, and 134 may perform functionality described laterherein.

Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary computer system 200 for use in animplementation of the invention will now be described. Computer system200 may be configured to perform quotation processing and management forone or more users, applicant, clients or customers operating a devicesuch as client device 202. System 200 may interface with aninsurance/financial services company system or server 204 via a network206. In computer system 200, a central processing unit or processor 210executes instructions contained in programs such as financial managementapplication program 214, stored in storage devices 220. Processor 210may provide the central processing unit (CPU) functions of a computingdevice on one or more integrated circuits. As used herein, the term“processor” broadly refers to and is not limited to a single- ormulti-core general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, aconventional processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, amicrocontroller, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits(ASICs), one or more Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuits, anyother type of integrated circuit (IC), a system-on-a-chip (SOC), and/ora state machine.

Storage devices 220 may include suitable media, such as optical ormagnetic disks, fixed disks with magnetic storage (hard drives), tapesaccessed by tape drives, and other storage media. Processor 210communicates, such as through bus 208 and/or other data channels, withcommunications interface unit 212, storage devices 220, system memory230, and input/output controller 240. System memory 230 may furtherinclude a random access memory 232 and a read only memory 234. Randomaccess memory 232 may store instructions in the form of computer codeprovided by application 214 to implement the present invention. System200 further includes an input/output controller 240 that may communicatewith processor 210 to receive data from user inputs such as pointingdevices, touch screens, and audio inputs, and may provide data tooutputs, such as data to video drivers for formatting on displays, anddata to audio devices.

Storage devices 220 are configured to exchange data with processor 210,and may store programs containing processor-executable instructions, andvalues of variables for use by such programs. Processor 210 isconfigured to access data from storage devices 220, which may includeconnecting to storage devices 220 and obtain data or read data from thestorage devices, or place data into the storage devices. Storage devices220 may include local and network accessible mass storage devices.Storage devices 220 may include media for storing operating system 222and mass storage devices such as storage 224 for storing data related toinsurance information related to the customers such as driving history,etc. Communications interface unit 212 may communicate via network 206with other insurance/financial services company computer systems such ascompany system servers 204 as well as other servers, computer systems ofagents, financial advisors, customers, remote sources of data, and withsystems for implementing instructions output by processor 210.Insurance/financial services company server 204 may also be configuredin a distributed architecture, wherein databases and processors arehoused in separate units or locations. Some such servers perform primaryprocessing functions and contain at a minimum, a RAM, a ROM, and ageneral controller or processor. In such an embodiment, each of theseservers is attached to a communications hub or port that serves as aprimary communication link with other servers, client or user computersand other related devices. The communications hub or port may haveminimal processing capability itself, serving primarily as acommunications router. A variety of communications protocols may be partof the system, including but not limited to: Ethernet, SAP, SAS™, ATP,Bluetooth, GSM and TCP/IP. Network 206 may be or include wired orwireless local area networks and wide area networks, and overcommunications between networks, including over the Internet. One ormore public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud and cloud-like networksmay also be implemented, for example, to handle and conduct processingof one or more transactions or calculations of the present invention,including computation or determination of a premium for transmission toa user/application. Cloud based computing may be used herein to handleany one or more of the application, storage and connectivityrequirements of the present invention. Furthermore, any suitable dataand communication protocols may be employed to accomplish the teachingsof the present invention.

With reference still to FIG. 2, communications interface 212 is used forreceiving user data related to the user's insurance requirement andbackground. Computer processor 210 executes program instructions, suchas provided by application 214 to receive, via the communicationsinterface 212, third party data, social network data and other relatedinformation. Database 224 may include data such as historical data fromthe user or other third parties for use in the quoting process.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary screen of the present invention as maybe displayed among devices shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In one embodiment, auser operates a device 310, such as a touch screen type device forviewing and accessing information and data related to the insurancequotation process described herein. Touch screen device 310 can be anactive sensor employing capacitive, resistive, inductive, or othermethods, or it can be a passive surface on which touch sensing isaccomplished by optical, acoustic, or other similar methods. Device 310can also be a liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diode(OLED) display, electroluminescent display, or any other type of smalldisplay suitable for mounting in a portable computer or mobile device.Device 310 may be color or monochrome, and may include a backlightcapability to enhance readability in various lighting conditions. In thepresent invention, device 310 displays a web document 314 for access bya user. Web document 314 operates as a graphical user interface that mayinclude selectable input screen 316 for selecting inputs related to theinsurance quote. The selectable inputs may be in the form of graphicalcheckboxes that may be implemented in a variety of manners. Once aselectable input is selected or actuated by a user, the system mayinitiate one or third party information requests to augment thequotation information. In one exemplary implementation the userselectable checkboxes as shown in screen 316 may be implemented in a webpage as shown in the following exemplary pseudo code:

<head> <title>The Hartford Insurance Quotation System</title> </head><body> <form name=″InsuranceQuotationForm″action=″http://www.thehartford.com/quotationform.cgi″ method=″POST″><div align=″center″><br> <input type=″checkbox″ name=″option1″ value=″1Car″> 1 Car<br> <input type=″checkbox″ name=″option2″ value=″2 Car″ > 2Car<br> <input type=″checkbox″ name=″option3″ value=″3 Car″ checked> 3Car<br> <if _ car ″checked″, initiate request for device and/or thirdparty information> <br></div> </form> </body>

As shown above, each of the checkboxes are user selectable inputs thatinclude a plurality of option selections where each respective optionselection representative of insurance quotation specific informationpertaining to the user. In operation, the system in response todetecting user selections, initiates one or more user device and/orthird party information requests such as a request for identifyinginformation from the user device or motor vehicle information from thedepartment of motor vehicles. In this specific example, the userselected a quotation for “3 cars” so the system would initiate make,model and/or Vehicle Identification Information (VIN) requests for thethree cars associated with the user from one or more third partyinformation sources. In embodiments of the present invention, the systemwould iteratively solicit user selectable input with each inputpotentially triggering additional automated third party informationaugmentation requests until the requisite amount of information iscompiled in order to provide the user with an insurance quotation.

Web page or document 314 may be in communication with one or more thirdparty entities 320 such as a federal, state or municipal entity such asa department of motor vehicles website 324. Web document 314 mayinterface with third party entity site 324 to obtain historicalinformation associated with the user such as driving history, etc. Thisinformation may be used alone, combined with other third party or socialnetwork data, or used with the assistance of a predictive model. Thepredictive model(s) of the present invention may include one or more ofneural networks, Bayesian networks (such as Hidden Markov models),expert systems, decision trees, collections of decision trees, supportvector machines, or other systems known in the art for addressingproblems with large numbers of variables. In embodiments, the predictivemodels are trained on prior data and outcomes using a historicaldatabase of insurance related data and resulting correlations relatingto a same user, different users, or a combination of a same anddifferent users. In embodiments of the present invention, the predictivemodel may be implemented as part of insurance quote calculation module114 described with respect to FIG. 1.

Device 310 may also be in communication with a insurance/financialservices entity operated website 330. Website 330 displays information334 on one or more insurance/financial services product(s) that havebeen determined to be suitable for the consumer based on their inputsand selections. It is contemplated that the functionality of website 330may be integrated within web document 314 such as in a frame, window orother manner so that access to information 334 may be accomplished in asingle screen 314 such as shown with that provide for viewing andselection of one or more financial services/insurance related productsduring the quotation process.

Turning now to FIG. 4, an exemplary user device 400 is illustrateddisplaying successive steps of a quotation process in accordance withthe present invention. Device 400 displays a quotation web page ordocument 410 that may be generated by the insurance data managementsystem 110 shown relative to FIG. 1. Document 410 is configured toreceive certain information and input on behalf of the user through aseries of dynamically rendered selectable user inputs provided on userdevice 400. Such information and input provided by the user in responseto the questions is then stored such as in a data storage devicedescribed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2. Web document 410 is configuredto receive input from the user regarding their insurance profile such asin the case of automobile insurance, the number of cars they are seekingto insure, how they are going to use the cars, desired deductible, etc.In operation, the user moves from one selectable user input field toanother form field to complete each selected data request or questiondisplayed in each form field. An electronic pop-up type display may beavailable in document 410 for one or more of the fields to provideadditional assistance or clarification with respect to one or more ofthe form fields if requested by the user through a specified action,such as by double clicking or tapping the relevant selectable input.

In the present invention, device 400 may be a touch sensitive displaythat is responsive to a finger, a stylus, etc. for manipulation andcompletion of form 410. Certain operating circuitry may control oroperate device 400 to show different respective images, such as, forexample, selectable inputs, text instructions or information, icons orfunctions of a graphical user interface (GUI), lists of information,etc., as is known. Device 400 further is operative to display aninsurance quotation, which may be a binding insurance quotation, such asshown in screen display 420 that may be determined based upon theaggregated information of user selectable based data, device data, thirdparty data, social network data and historical data 414. Upon acceptanceof the quotation shown in screen display 420, the user may be providedan electronic insurance identification card shown in screen display 430,or instructions for accessing an electronic insurance identificationcard.

FIG. 5 shows an example process flow diagram illustrating a method 500for administering an electronic insurance quoting process using theexample architecture 100 of FIG. 1. The method 500 of FIG. 5 may beginby providing a selectable input graphical user interface, the interfaceincluding a series of user selectable inputs, each input correspondingto at least one insurance quotation information requirement, step 502.Method 500 continues with receiving, via a communications interface,user selected inputs from the selectable input graphical user interface,step 504. Method 500 continues with storing, via a data storage devicethe received user selected inputs, step 506. Method 500 proceeds withreceiving, via the communications interface, device and/or third partydata related to the user, step 508. Method 500 further proceeds withstoring, via a data storage device, the device and/or third partydriving data related to the user, step 510. Method 500 further continueswith determining, via the computer processor, insurance quotationinformation for the user based on the user selected inputs, device dataand/or the third party driving data, step 512. Method 500 proceeds withoutputting an electronic insurance confirmation to the user, step 514.

FIG. 6 shows a process flow diagram illustrating another computerimplemented method 600 of the present invention. In an embodiment, anelectronic quotation document is provided to a consumer for completion,step 610. Electronic quotation document may be rendered via web system120 such as described with respect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Selectableinput is provided by the applicant user and the data is processed, step620. For example, the user may select or actuate one or more of theradio button, clickboxes or other graphical indicia displayed by thesystem to convey the insurance related information to the insuranceentity. The system determines if the selectable input is sufficient orif certain device/third party data/additional selectable input isneeded, step 630. For example, if the applicant specifies that he/shehas two cars that need to be insured, the system may then automaticallypoll or access in real time certain department of motor vehicle dataabout the two automobiles. By way of further example, if the applicantspecifies that he/she has a child that will also need insurance, thesystem may access certain social networking information in real timeabout the child such as their age, interests, education status, etc. todetermine a potential level or risk associated with the child. Certaininsurance related data, such as third party data, geo-location data andsocial network information is accessed, received and evaluated, step640. This process proceeds iteratively so that every successiveselectable input provided by the user may be augmented or supplementedby the device data, third party data or otherwise. Once the level ofdata provided by the applicant and appropriately augmented by the deviceand/or third party data is received, a quotation is issued, step 650. Aninsurance card may then be outputted by the system, step 660. It iscontemplated that in a new applicant or customer context that the userselectable input, device data and third party data are used to establishthe quote but in a current, renewal or repeat customer context, theinformation may be supplemented with historical insurance company entitydata about the existing customer.

One or more steps of method 600 may be implemented as computer programinstructions provided on a non-transitory computer readable medium forexecution by one or more processors. As used to herein, the term“computer-readable medium” broadly refers to and is not limited to aregister, a cache memory, a ROM, a semiconductor memory device (such asa D-RAM, S-RAM, or other RAM), a magnetic medium such as a flash memory,a hard disk, a magneto-optical medium, an optical medium such as aCD-ROM, a DVDs, or BD, or other type of device for electronic datastorage.

FIG. 7 shows an example computing device 710 that may be used toimplement features describe above. The computing device 710 may includea peripheral device interface 712, display device interface 714, astorage device 716, a processor 718, a memory device 720, and acommunication interface 722. Computing device 710 may be coupled to adisplay device 724, which may be separately coupled to or includedwithin the computing device 710. In operation, computing device 710 isconfigured to receive and transmit a number of data flows viacommunications interface 722 including, for example, selectable inputdata 730, Geo location/identifying information 732 and other cookie-typeidentifying data 736. In the present invention, geo-location or GPS typeinformation from the user's computing device may be used to providelocation based information for use in the quotation such as informationrelated to where the user resides, travels, where the car(s) aregaraged, etc. Any number of location based methodologies, protocols andtechnologies may be utilized to acquire the location based informationincluding but not limited to Assisted GPS (A-GPS) W3C Geolocation GSMlocalization, Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA), etc. Additionally, itis contemplated that a number of different types of informationmethodologies and protocols may be used to provide information about theapplicant from their device including device type, serial number,machine number, evercookies, flash cookies, session beans, session IDsor other similar means for providing information to the insurance entityfor the quoting process.

The peripheral device interface 712 may be an interface configured tocommunicate with one or more peripheral devices. The peripheral deviceinterface 712 may operate using a technology such as Universal SerialBus (USB), PS/2, Bluetooth, infrared, serial port, parallel port, and/orother appropriate technology. The peripheral device interface 712 may,for example, receive input data from an input device such as a keyboard,a mouse, a trackball, a touch screen, a touch pad, a stylus pad, and/orother device. Alternatively or additionally, the peripheral deviceinterface 712 may communicate output data to a printer that is attachedto the computing device 710 via the peripheral device interface 712. Thedisplay device interface 714 may be an interface configured tocommunicate data to display device 724. The display device 724 may be,for example, a monitor or television display, a plasma display, a liquidcrystal display (LCD), and/or a display based on a technology such asfront or rear projection, light emitting diodes (LEDs), organiclight-emitting diodes (OLEDs), or Digital Light Processing (DLP). Thedisplay device interface 714 may operate using technology such as VideoGraphics Array (VGA), Super VGA (S-VGA), Digital Visual Interface (DVI),High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), or other appropriatetechnology. The display device interface 714 may communicate displaydata from the processor 718 to the display device 724 for display by thedisplay device 724. As shown in FIG. 7, the display device 724 may beexternal to the computing device 710, and coupled to the computingdevice 710 via the display device interface 714. Alternatively, thedisplay device 724 may be included in the computing device 710. Thememory device 720 may be or include a device such as a Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (D-RAM), Static RAM (S-RAM), or other RAM or a flashmemory. The storage device 716 may be or include a hard disk, amagneto-optical medium, an optical medium such as a CD-ROM, a digitalversatile disk (DVDs), or Blu-Ray disc (BD), or other type of device forelectronic data storage.

The communication interface 722 may be, for example, a communicationsport, a wired transceiver, a wireless transceiver, and/or a networkcard. The communication interface 722 may be capable of communicatingusing technologies such as Ethernet, fiber optics, microwave, xDSL(Digital Subscriber Line), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)technology, wireless cellular technology, and/or any other appropriatetechnology.

An instance of the computing device 710 of FIG. 7 may be configured toperform any feature or any combination of features described above asperformed by the consumer client device 130 as described with respect toFIG. 1. In such an instance, the memory device 720 and/or the storagedevice 716 may store instructions which, when executed by the processor718, cause the processor 718 to perform any feature or any combinationof features described above as performed by the web browser module 134.Alternatively or additionally, in such an instance, each or any of thefeatures described above as performed by the web browser module 134 maybe performed by the processor 718 in conjunction with peripheral deviceinterface 712, display device interface 714, and/or storage device 716,memory device 720, and communication interface 722.

Alternatively or additionally, an instance of the computing device 710may be configured to perform any feature or any combination of featuresdescribed above as performed by the insurance data management system110. In such an instance, the memory device 720 and/or the storagedevice 716 may store instructions which, when executed by the processor718, cause the processor 718 to perform any feature or any combinationof features described above as performed by the interface module 112and/or the insurance quote calculation module 114. In such an instance,the processor 718 may perform the feature or combination of features inconjunction with the memory device 720, communication interface 722,peripheral device interface 712, display device interface 714, and/orstorage device 716.

Alternatively or additionally, an instance of the computing device 710may be configured to perform any feature or any combination of featuresdescribed above as performed by the web site system 120. In such aninstance, the memory device 720 and/or the storage device 716 may storeinstructions which, when executed by the processor 718, cause theprocessor 718 to perform any feature or any combination of featuresdescribed above as performed by the financial web application module 122and/or the HTTP server module 124. In such an instance, the processor718 may perform the feature or combination of features in conjunctionwith the memory device 720, communication interface 722, peripheraldevice interface 712, display device interface 714, and/or storagedevice 716.

Although FIG. 7 shows that the computing device 710 includes a singleprocessor 718, single memory device 720, single communication interface722, single peripheral device interface 712, single display deviceinterface 714, and single storage device 716, the computing device mayinclude multiples of each or any combination of these components 712,714, 716, 718, 720, and 722 and may be configured to perform analogousfunctionality to that described above.

FIG. 8 shows an example process flow diagram illustrating another method800 for administering an electronic insurance quoting process using theexample architecture 100 of FIG. 1. The method 800 of FIG. 8 may beginby receiving, via a communications interface, device and/or third partydata related to the user, step 802. It is contemplated that the user'sconsent to access such information may be garnered in advance such asvia an electronic disclosure and consent form. Method 800 furtherproceeds with storing, via a data storage device, the device and/orthird party driving data related to the user, step 804. Method 800proceeds by providing a selectable input graphical user interface, theinterface including a series of user selectable inputs that may becustomized based on the data storage device, the device and/or thirdparty driving data, step 806. The inputs may be customized, for example,by providing selected ranges of data, such as age, income, etc. thatcorresponds to that specific user based on the data garnered in step802. Method 800 continues with receiving, via a communicationsinterface, user selected inputs from the selectable input graphical userinterface, step 808. Method 800 continues with storing, via a datastorage device the received user selected inputs, step 810. Method 800further continues with determining, via the computer processor,insurance quotation information for the user based on the user selectedinputs, device data and/or the third party driving data, step 812.Method 800 proceeds with outputting an electronic insurance confirmationto the user, step 814.

Although the methods and features described above with reference toFIGS. 1-8 are described above as performed using the examplearchitecture 100 of FIG. 1 and the example system 200 of FIG. 2, themethods and features described above may be performed using anyappropriate architecture and/or computing environment. Although featuresand elements are described above in particular combinations, eachfeature or element can be used alone or in any combination with orwithout the other features and elements. For example, each feature orelement as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-8 may be used alonewithout the other features and elements or in various combinations withor without other features and elements. Sub-elements of the methods andfeatures described above with reference to FIGS. 1-8 may be performed inany arbitrary order (including concurrently), in any combination orsub-combination.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system, comprising: one or more datastorage devices for storing data indicative of inputs received from auser device; one or more computer processors in communication with theone or more data storage devices; a communication interface device incommunication with the one or more computer processors and the one ormore data storage devices; a memory, coupled to the one or more computerprocessors, storing program instructions which, when executed by the oneor more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processorsto: generate a display of a data entry interface for display on a remoteuser device, the data entry interface including user selectable inputsthat do not require keyboard-type information entry and include aplurality of option selections; receive from the remote user device dataindicative of data input in the data entry interface via the userselectable inputs that do not require keyboard-type information entry;in response to detecting at least a user selection, via the userselectable inputs that do not require keyboard-type information entry,representative of a request for a quote for insurance, interrogate theremote user device for identifying information and initiate a request toa third party computer system for information relating to the user;receive, in response to the interrogation, identifying information fromthe remote user device and, in response to the request, data indicativeof the information relating to the user from the third party computersystem; provide, to an insurance data management system, the informationconveyed by the option selections without requiring keyboard-typeinformation entry on behalf of the user, the identifying informationreceived in response to the interrogation and the data indicative of theinformation relating to the user received from the third party computer;receive, in response to the providing, from the insurance datamanagement system, an insurance quotation; and output the insurancequotation to the remote user device for display.
 2. The computer systemof claim 1, wherein the identifying information received in response tothe interrogation comprises one or more of device type, serial number,machine number, evercookies, flash cookies, session beans and sessionIDs.
 3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the input interface doesnot accept keyboard-type information entry.
 4. The computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the input interface is configured to accept bothnon-keyboard based data input and keyboard-type information entry. 5.The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer system isconfigured in a distributed architecture.
 6. The computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the program instructions cause the one or more computerprocessors to iteratively solicit user selectable input, via the dataentry interface not requiring keyboard-type information entry, until arequisite amount of information has been compiled to determine aninsurance quotation.
 7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the userinterface is configured for receipt of user selection of inputs withoutkeyboard-type information entry via one or more of: checkboxes; radiobuttons; one or more taps; and one or more swipes.
 8. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein the memory storing program instructions whichcause the one or more computer processors to initiate a request to athird party computer system for information relating to the usercomprises the memory storing program instructions which cause the one ormore computer processors to initiate a request to a third party computersystem for information relating to property associated with the user;and wherein the memory storing program instructions which cause the oneor more computer processors to receive the data indicative of theinformation relating to the user comprises the memory storing programinstructions which cause the one or more computer processors to receive,from the third party computer system, data indicative of informationrelating to the property associated with the user.
 9. The computersystem of claim 8, wherein the memory storing program instructions whichcause the one or more computer processors to initiate a request to athird party computer system for information relating to the propertyassociated with the user comprises the memory storing programinstructions which cause the one or more computer processors to initiatea request to a third party computer system for information relating toat least one vehicle associated with the user, and wherein the memorystoring program instructions which cause the one or more computerprocessors to receive the data indicative of the information relating tothe property associated with the user comprises the memory storingprogram instructions which cause the one or more computer processors toreceive, from the third party computer system, data indicative ofinformation relating to the at least one vehicle associated with theuser.
 10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the third partycomputer system comprises a governmental computer and the dataindicative of at least one vehicle associated with the user comprisesvehicle identification number data of the at least one vehicleassociated with the user.
 11. A computer-implemented method, comprising:transmitting, by one or more computer processors via a communicationinterface device, to a remote user device for display, a graphical userinterface, the graphical user interface including a plurality of userselectable inputs not requiring user keyboard-type information entry;receiving, by the one or more computer processors via the communicationinterface device, user selected inputs from the selectable inputgraphical user interface, via the user selectable inputs that do notrequire keyboard-type information entry; responsive to receiving theuser selected inputs, initiating, by the one or more computer processorsvia the communication interface device, an interrogation of the userdevice for identifying information and a request to a third partycomputer for information relating to the user; receiving, by the one ormore computer processors via the communication interface device, inresponse to the interrogation, identifying information, and, in responseto the request, data indicative of the information relating to the user;storing, by the one or more computer processors in one or more datastorage devices, the data indicative of the identifying information andthe information relating to the user; providing, by the one or morecomputer processors, to a second computer system, the user selectedinputs, the data indicative of the identifying information, and the dataindicative of the information relating to the user; receiving, by theone or more computer processors, from the second computer system,responsive to the providing, an insurance quotation; and outputting, bythe one or more computer processors, via the communication interfacedevice, an electronic insurance quotation to the user device fordisplay.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein theidentifying information received in response to the interrogationcomprises one or more of device type, serial number, machine number,evercookies, flash cookies, session beans and session IDs.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the input interfacedoes not accept keyboard-type information entry.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the input interface isconfigured to accept both non-keyboard based data input andkeyboard-type information entry.
 15. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 11, further comprising iteratively soliciting user selectableinput, via the data entry interface not requiring keyboard-typeinformation entry, until a requisite amount of information has beencompiled to determine an insurance quotation.
 16. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the user interface isconfigured for receipt of user selection of inputs without keyboard-typeinformation entry via one or more of: checkboxes; radio buttons; one ormore taps; and one or more swipes.
 17. The computer-implemented methodof claim 11, herein initiating the request to the third party computersystem for information relating to the user comprises initiating arequest to a third party computer system for information relating toproperty associated with the user; and wherein receiving the dataindicative of the information relating to the user comprises receivingdata indicative of information relating to the property associated withthe user.
 18. A computer system, comprising: one or more data storagedevices for storing data indicative of inputs received from the userdevice; one or more computer processors in communication with the one ormore data storage devices; a communication interface device incommunication with the one or more computer processors and the one ormore data storage devices; a memory, coupled to the one or more computerprocessors, storing program instructions which, when executed by the oneor more processors, cause the one or more computer processors to:transmit an input display of an insurance quote application interface toa user device, the input display being incapable of acceptingkeyboard-type information entry; detect one or more user selectableinputs in the application interface, wherein the user selectable inputsdo not require keyboard-type information entry and include a pluralityof option selections, at least one of the options selections beingindicative of a request for an insurance quotation, and in response todetecting at least a user selection representative of a request for aquote for insurance, initiating at least an interrogation of the userdevice for identifying information; receive identifying information inresponse to the interrogation; initiate a request to a third partycomputer system for information relating to property associated with theuser; receive, from the third party computer system, data indicative ofthe property associated with the user; provide, to an insurance datamanagement system, the information conveyed by the option selectionswithout requiring keyboard-type information entry on behalf of the user,the identifying information, and the data indicative of the propertyassociated with the user received from the third party computer;receive, in response to the providing, from the insurance datamanagement system, an insurance quotation; and output the insurancequotation to the user device for display.
 19. The computer system ofclaim 18, wherein one or more data storage devices include historicalinsurance information relating to insureds, and wherein the request foran insurance quotation is related to an insurance renewal, andhistorical insurance information relating to the user is provided to theinsurance data management system.
 20. The computer system of claim 18,wherein the memory further stores program instructions which, whenexecuted by the one or more computer processors, cause the one or morecomputer processors to: initiate a request to multiple third partycomputers for information relating to the user, wherein at least one ofthe multiple third party computers comprises a social networkingcomputer; and receive, from the multiple third party computers, theinformation relating to the user.